Nuptials on the Big Screen

Something old, something new, something celluloid

by Beth Rowen

Related Links

Romantic comedies and weddings have gone hand and hand since the earliest
days of film. Whether it's the escapism of a fairy-tale wedding or the
devious side of us that loves to see perfectly laid plans go disastrously
awry, wedding films have been a perennial favorite at the box office. And
believe it or not, not all of the films have been Julia Roberts vehicles.

Disney has found the genre particularly lucrative. Indeed, the Mouse
House's animated franchise is dominated by movies (Cinderella,
Sleeping Beauty, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid) that
follow a young woman from her pursuit of the perfect mate to an enchanted
wedding.

But not every wedding movie follows the same formulaic arc. Here's a look
at Information Please's top 10 wedding films.

The Philadelphia Story (1940)

Playwright Phillip Barry wrote the play expressly for Katharine Hepburn and reportedly based it on her
real-life personality. The overwhelming success of the Broadway
production led to the film adaptation, with Hepburn having a say in who
costarred in, directed, and produced the film. The dialogue and chemistry
drive the film about a socialite (Hepburn) who, days before her wedding,
is torn between her fiancé (John Howard), her ex-husband
(Cary Grant), and a fast-talking,
down-to-earth reporter (Jimmy
Stewart). The entire cast shines as they trade acerbic barbs and
satirize Philadelphia's exclusive Main Line set. Stewart won a Best Actor Oscar for his performance. The
film was remade as a musical, High Society, in 1956 and starred
Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and Grace Kelly.

Father of the Bride (1950)

Spencer Tracy perfectly captures the angst and
anxiety of a father as he bankrolls an increasingly extravagant wedding,
deals with the elite in-laws, and contemplates giving away his little
girl, the luminous, 18-year-old Elizabeth Taylor. The film spawned a
sequel, Father's Little Dividend and a 1991 remake starring
Steve Martin and Diane Keaton.

Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)

The film that made the bumbling Hugh Grant a
star on these shores was a sleeper hit that unexpectedly earned a
Best Picture Oscar nomination.
Grant plays a commitment-phobic Brit who takes an interest in Andie MacDowell when they first meet at a
wedding. They continue to meet and connect at the other events of the
title, though her engagement proves inconvenient to them both. Director
Mike Newell fluidly combined comedy and tragedy, crafting a fun yet
poignant film.

It Happened One Night (1934)

Though often overshadowed by Frank Capra's
later classic It's a Wonderful Life, It Happened One Night
has all the makings of a masterpiece. The trend-setting romantic comedy
about a reporter (Clark Gable)
falling in love with a runaway heiress (Claudette Colbert) remains timelessly
entertaining. The hitchhiking and haystack scenes have become film
classics. It was the first picture to sweep the five major Oscar categories: Picture, Actor,
Actress, Director, and Screenplay.

The Wedding Banquet (1993)

This charming, cross-cultural and -generational comedy was the first film
from director Ang Lee to enjoy a wide release
in the United States. Gao Wai-Tung (Winston Chao) lives in
Manhattan with his lover, Simon (Mitchell Lichtenstein), keeping
his sexuality a secret from his parents, who live in Taiwan and are eager
for grandchildren. Fed up with his parents' constant pestering, Wai-Tung
arranges to marry a Chinese artist who needs a green card. All's well
until his parents arrive to throw a grand wedding banquet. The soiree
emerges as a comedy of errors that has the potential to throw all of the
relationships into disarray.

The Wedding March (1928)

Erich Von Stroheim directed and starred in
this classic silent film. He played Viennese prince Nikki, a roguish
spendthrift who's forced into an engagement with the daughter of a
wealthy manufacturer. Meanwhile, Nikki falls in love with a peasant
woman, who's involved with a butcher who loathes the aristocracy. Nikki
matures into a respectable, sympathetic character who's a victim of
circumstance. A few of the scenes are filmed in Technicolor, giving a peak at the
wonders of future technology.

Everyone Says I Love You (1997)

Marriage Statistics

You'll have to sit on your hands so you don't applaud each chestnut,
warbled by the actors themselves (except for Drew
Barrymore; she didn't think she had the voice. She couldn't have been
any worse than Julia Roberts).
It's no wonder these characters break out into song and dance: They're
loaded, living in luxury on Manhattan's Upper East Side, summering in the
Hamptons and spending Christmas in Paris. Everyone Says I Love You
is not director Woody Allen's
trademark cerebral comedy; it's sweet, romantic fluff—pure
pleasure. The story centers around the blended family headed by limousine
liberal Steffi (Goldie Hawn) and
her attorney husband (Alan Alda).
They live with their brood of precocious children and remain in close
contact with Steffi's forlorn ex-husband, Joe Berlin (Woody Allen).
Steffi and Joe's daughter, DJ (Natasha Lyonne), narrates the story that
revolves around sibling Skylar's (Barrymore) pending nuptials to dorky
Holden (Edward Norton). A lavish
delight.

The Catered Affair (1956)

Gore Vidal wrote the script, which was based
on Paddy Chayefsky's television play. Bette Davis dropped all pretenses for
this film, directed by Richard Brooks, in which she plays the wife
of a Bronx taxi driver (Ernest
Borgnine) who's determined to give her daughter a lavish wedding,
despite the family's limited means and her daughter's protestations. When
the budget balloons out of control, she blames her husband for not
adequately providing for the family.

My Best Friend's Wedding (1997)

Julia Roberts shines once again, proving she's
queen of the romantic, screwball comedy. Food critic Julianne Potter
(Roberts) decides she's in love with her best friend and old boyfriend,
Michael O'Neal (Dermot Mulroney),
four days before his wedding. She uses every dirty trick in the book to
break up the happy couple. The trouble is, Michael's flighty
fiancée, Kimmy Wallace (Cameron
Diaz), is absolutely adorable, charming, and wealthy. Rupert Everett steals the show as
Julianne's gay boss and confidante.

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)

One of MGM's most memorable (and politically incorrect) musicals. Oregon
rancher Howard Keel decides it's time to find
himself a wife, and heads to town where he finds a willing Jane
Powell. Back at the ranch, she's shocked to find she'll be sharing
quarters with his six slobby brothers. Envious of their brother's new
life, the six bachelors kidnap(!) six women from town and bring them back
home, where they act like perfect gentlemen and win the affections of
their captives. A fun romp, with rollicking song-and-dance numbers.

Honorable Mention: The Wedding Singer (1998)

Okay, so it's not likely to make top 10 lists of cineastes, but The
Wedding Singer boasts originality, a boatload of laughs, and plenty
of 1980s nostalgia: new-wave, bad fashion, and big hair. Saturday
Night Live alum Adam Sandler plays Robbie,
a suburban wedding singer who gets jilted by his fiancé on the day
of their wedding. He's consoled by a waitress (Drew Barrymore), who works in a reception
hall where Robbie's band often plays. He falls for her, although she's
engaged to a shallow Wall Street type, who's doing his best Don
Johnson–Miami Vice impression. An entertaining look back at
how far fashion and hair have come in just over a decade.

Honorable Mention: Wedding Crashers (2005)

One of the top-grossing films of 2005, Wedding Crashers follows the escapades of divorce mediators John Beckwith (Owen Wilson) and Jeremy Grey (Vince Vaughn) in what they vow will be their final season of nuptial crashing. The crash team-armed with a convincing back story and plenty of details about the bride and groom-always succeed in wooing a bridesmaid, although the courtship is often over before the band plays its last song. However, at what is billed as the social event of the season, John falls for Claire Cleary (Rachel McAdams) a woman with a pompous, Ivy-League-educated boyfriend in tow. John and Jeremy weasel their way into an invitation to the family's weekend estate, and Jeremy desperately tries to shake a very clingy Gloria Cleary (Isla Fisher) as John continues to court Claire. The two crashers emerge from the weekend as changed men, but not before a number of mishaps and run-ins with the ever more suspicious Cleary family.

Honorable Mention: The Wedding Planner (2001)

Jennifer Lopez stars as Mary Fiore, the Bay Area's most successful and admired wedding planner. Normally displaying a laser-like focus on the task at hand, Mary is caught off guard when she finds herself falling for the doctor who recently saved her life, Steve Edison (Matthew McConaughey). Meanwhile, when wealthy internet tycoon Fran Donolly (Bridgette Wilson-Sampras) requests her employer's services, Mary is given the assignment and the promise of a promotion should the event go smoothly. When she finds out that Donolly's finance happens to be the man she has fallen in love with, she is understandably crushed, but continues to plan the wedding. Maria is faced with choosing between money and love, for she can either watch Steve walk out of her life, or risk her career by sabotaging Donolly's wedding. In the end we are shown that even the most driven people can be led astray by their own emotions and the search for true happiness.

Honorable Mention: My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)

2002's most surprising hit features Nia Vardalos (also credited with writing the screen play) in the role of Toula Portokalos, a single 30 year old Greek women living and working with her parents and siblings in a Chicago immigrant enclave. Toula yearns for more than the tradition-laden Greek lifestyle she has been forced to live by her parents and decides to make her dreams a reality. She takes to beautifying herself and enrolls in computer classes at a local college. She meets Ian Miller (John Corbett) a non-Greek English teacher who turns out to be the man of her dreams. Of course, Toula's family is livid over the fact that she is dating a non-Greek, and they do everything in their power to keep them apart. However, when Ian proposes and the two are to be married, Toula's family begrudgingly accepts the decision. The wedding is nearly ruined by the family's Greek traditions and the violent clashing of cultures that ensues, but in the end both the Portokalos and Miller families form a deeper understanding and appreciation for their new in-laws and their ethnic identities.